Dan is the eldest son in the line of kings so he was next in line. However, he could not enter Dreamland because Arthur was still technically king. Alex drew the sword and has been judged worthy by the sword so he is the actual king now. In theory Dan would have been able to claim the sword as a child, if Arthur had moved on earlier, and become the king. He didn’t while he was young and I don’t think he will be able to now that he is an adult even with Alex’s permission.

Kaden is right. As the eldest brother, Dan is the true king of Dreamland. I think he will be able to use the sword to get there and I am very interested to see what he will do when he DOES get there. His approach is bound to be very different to Alex’s…

Alex is the true king, because he drew the sword.
Dan could not enter dreamland as child, because he was the heir, and Arthur lived.
I *think* Dan is still heir (because Alex, the King, has no children?), so still can’t dream into Dreamland (even disregarding his being adult).

The sword has its own agenda, which may or may not coincide with what Alex or Dan might want for either themselves or Dreamland. We have no idea what lengths it may go to if thwarted – nor whether or not it would accept the touch of the heir as well as the true king.

Don’t forget the elven armour Alex was given, which was supposed to be given to the bearer of the sword, regardless of whether he is the true king or not. That rather implies some doubt in the minds of the armour’s makers as to whether the sword might not use others to forward its agenda.

I can’t see the sword hurting either Alex or Dan as long as they continue to act in its interests, but I’m not sure a declaration of intent to leave the throne to Nico would be very well received…

Honestly, though, I’m thinking an assassination run has a better chance of success, here. Though I’m not sure Nico himself is not being manipulated by the powers of the Nightmare Realm, who played on his fears very well to get the line of human kings out of the way… What is THEIR interest in this, I wonder?

There never was a spell cast on Dan. That rule about Arthur’s existence keeping Dan from going to Dreamland was a basic rule of how Dreamland works. While there is a king, no potential kings can go to Dreamland in order to prevent any squabbles for the throne. Or at least that’s what I gathered.

Am I wrong? Because I keep seeing people referring to the spell on Dan still.

You are correct there was never a spell on Dan. Unfortunately Alex isn’t to quick and asked repeatedly about the spell on his brother. So some people might have missed the swords full explanation. See pages 1137-1139 for the best explanation.

Sorry I was responding more to Julie than to you. It might have been better to say there was never a spell. It was a law, some basic function of the connection between Earth and Dreamland. While it is probably best described as magic it won’t go away just because someone dies.

Nicodemus could try to find another way to trap the human with the sword, be it Dan or Alex, and that would keep other potential first born heirs out. However, how would you go about trapping someone with a sword that can cut through almost anything?

man it would be so cool if Dan got to be a king of dreamland after he yerned to go there for so long, but I admit I worry about what it would do to alex’s quest to be a better man if he got to unload all those responibilities like that….But darnit dan’d make a good king! ; p Maybe dan can be king and Alex can focus on Nastajia–but can only one of them currently with the sword get in to dreamland? Normally no adults can go at all, right? ; . ;

Well… there was that other amulet Arthur and them were originally trying to create. I can see that being completed with Dan and Nicole helping from one side, and Orion helping from the other. Science taking the place of Merlin’s magic.

Then both Alex and Dan might both be able to be in dreamland at the same time. Perhaps even Nicole could visit with Felicity again too. Fun to imagine the possibilities.

Wait. I think we’re wrong about Dreamland politics here. If there was a spell keeping out potential kings all the time, then there’d be a power struggle every time a king died. The next king would have to come to Dreamland and grow up a little before he could take over.

As long as the king died on earth the necklace would be passed onto their heir. It would allow an adult to enter Dreamland and take rule immediately with all their training to rule on Earth already in place. Even if the heir was young the sword would symbolize their right to rule and the leaders of the Dreamland races could act as advisors.

Light look quite good I’d say.
‘Bit cowardice imho that Alexander tries to burden Dan with what was ,clearly, a destination meant for Alex…Orrr..does Alex actually wants Dan to experience dreamland for once out of the goodness of his heart? [pondering] And, would would dan’s ladyfriend fit in here somehow?? Wise King/Wise Queen??????